worship

Epiphany

An Airport Epiphany

I recently experienced an epiphany after an airport security line incident. I was traveling with my wife and my two young children to Baltimore. The Transportation Security Administration allows you to bring larger quantities of liquid for children through the security line. We brought juice for our son to have on the plane. My wife and I thought it would be cheaper to bring juice. However, you have to go through addition screening. I proceed to go through the metal detector and into that glass enclosed waiting area to be searched.

A TSA agent came over with two cloths to wipe my hands. Gee, I didn’t know they were going to clean my hands! Nope. They swiped my hands for evidence of bomb making materials. I watched as the TSA agent went over to a machine to analyze the samples. I heard the machine make some beeps, which didn’t good, and finally print out a report.

The TSA agent walked over and said, “Sir, do you take any medications?”

“Ah, well, not really. Just some creams. Maybe some over the counter stuff.”

“Sir, we found nitrates on you.” The TSA agent said sternly. What the heck! Nitrates! The stuff that blows stuff up? I looked over and saw two other TSA agents rifling through my bag. Oh great! I’m done for. They are going to lock me away in a room without windows and question me for hours. I’m going to miss my flight.

sermon

Sermon: Johnny the Baptist

Johnny The Baptist dec 13 09 by Rev. Rudnick

Churches

Reports of the Demise of Mainline Churches Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

A fresh report from the Barna Group has yielded some surprising results: Mainline churches are not dying! I should be honest with you, nation wide, mainline churches are not growing either. In the past decade, the six mainline church denominations (American Baptist Churches in the USA, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Presbyterian Church (USA); United Church of Christ; and United Methodist Church) have experienced some stability. The Barna Group concluded:

Over the course of the past decade, the number of adults who attend a mainline church on any given weekend has remained relatively stable, ranging from 89 to 100.

In addition, some other encouraging news was reported:

One reason why that average has remained steady has been the population growth of the United States, with the mainline churches attracting just enough newcomers to maintain attendance levels that are similar to the years when the nation’s population was considerably smaller.

Even though these have been tough economical times, signs of finical growth occurred:

… during the past decade the median church budget of mainline congregations has risen substantially – up 51%, to about $165,000 annually.

This is fantastic! Although I am an American Baptist clergyman, I whole-heartily support and have great affection for “mainline churches” (I served in 3 different mainline denominations: ABC, UMC, & PC USA). For years, the mega-church moment has told Christians, “Come here! We are young, happening, and different. Your old corner church is weak and feeble.” Not really. I’m joking, but you get the picture. I have been very clear in past posts that I believe megachurches are not evil and are worshiping, faithful, and Godly communities – but they are not the end-all-be-all of “church.”

What does this Barna report mean for the mainline church? (There is also some bad news)

mega church

Are You a Mega Church Drop Out?

With mega-churches basking in the spotlight of mainstream media, several studies have been done about the mega-church movement that might just surprise you. A study just released a few days ago, indicates that the largest churches in the United States are “Christian, contemporary, and evangelical.” Mega-churches are growing, so the short term studies cite. The largest churches in the United States have reach amazing numbers:

Lakewood Church – Houston, TX 43,500 weekly
LifeChurch.tv – Edmond, OK 26,776 weekly
Willow Creek Community Church – South Barrington, IL 23,400 weekly
North Point Community Church – Alpharetta, GA 23,377 weekly
Second Baptist Church – Houston, TX 22,723 weekly

However, more long term studies show that churches and communities of faith are losing ground. The 18 year American Religious Identification Survey show that the percentage of “other Christians” (evangelical, protestant, and non-denominational churches) has dropped. Even in the Bible belt! In Texas, 20% of “other Christians” (basically, non-Catholics) have changed their faith affiliation to something other than Christian. You can check out the interactive graphic here.

The American Religious Identification Survey said “the challenge to Christianity … does not come from other religions but from a rejection of all forms of organized religion.” With so many mega-churches growing, there must be a “drop out” rate that is not being reported because “the percentage of those who choose a generic label, calling themselves simply Christian, Protestant, non-denominational, evangelical or “born again,” was 14.2%, about the same as in 1990.”

Even more surprising are what these surveys and studies have found:

worship

Dancing in Worship

If you grew up Baptist there was one thing (among many) that you did NOT do: dance! I remember my Baptist grandmother telling me stories of how people were reprimanded for dancing in public back in the day. Baptists were known not to play cards or go to movies. Wow, it must have been exciting to be a Baptist in the 1930’s.

In 2 Samuel 6:1-5 & 12-19, David dances with all his might. Why? David decided to move the capital city of the Israelites from Shiloh to Jerusalem. He wanted to bring the Ark of the Covenant to be in the new religious center of the nation. It had been a long time since the Israelites had a specific location that would serve as a center for worship. Now, the Israelites had this symbol of God’s presence carried into the center of the Jewish people. You can imagine the excitement.

twitter

I’m Not Sold on Twitter in worship

A variety of news outlets have commented on the growing trend in churches: Twitter Worship. Time, New York Times, and Switched have covered the movement. If you do not know about this trend, I’ll try to explain it in two sentences. Using the social networking site, Twitter, worship attendees interact with the sermon, worship, and music.

Some churches even display “tweets” on their projection screens and the pastor interacts with the micro comments during the sermon. The UMC Board of Discipleship has a good overview of the pros and cons of using twitter and other technology in worship. Even Josh Harris questions the use of Twitter during worship. Despite the popularity of Twittering, many have asked the question, “Is Twittering during worship really worshipful?” I am a pretty technology dependent person, but I’m not sold on Twitter worship.

This is a difficult question to answer because there are some things to consider:

Twittering in worship attracts younger worshippers. A segment of the population that is greatly prized by churches.
A Twitter worship service can attract the unchurched or non-Christians.
Using Twitter creates more of an interactive worship experience, which is something that people want need.
People are quickly becoming more connected through technology, thus connecting through technology can be a way to reach people for Christ
Twittering during worship is encouraging people to be reflective about God.

abc

Mission Crisis Update

Day two of the Biennial was very productive. The second day begun again with Leonard Sweet, but this time he spoke about how Jews prayed (and still do) the psalms. He sought to bring to light the nature of Jesus’ words on the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Of course, as most Bible students know, these are words from Psalm 22. Psalm 22 begins will sad words, but ends with a glorified understand standing of God’s power. In the ancient world, when you began a song most people would know the entire song. Today, if you sing “Amazing grace how…” most people could finish that first line because they know the song. Most Baptists will not understand the nature of a psalter, which many Christians sing on a regular basis in worship, because Baptists threw out any ritual that resembled Anglo-Catholic faith. I have learned the value and beauty of singing the Psalms as they were intended at the United Methodist congregation I served at for 2.5 years.

At lunch time, I attend the Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board lunch. MMBB always does a great job of making an event nice. The MMBB money is well spent… err, I mean managed. Seriously, MMBB is one of the best retirement organizations for a denomination out there. MMBB’s performance usually beats the major indexes. I sat next to some International Mission people from the ABC and got the low down on the missionary situation.

Churches

Young People Don't Go To Church, or Do They?

There is a common misconception that young people are fleeing churches. So many churches ask, “Where are all the young people?” My friend Rev. Elizabeth Hagen on her blog discussed a similar topic a few weeks ago and gave some great thoughts on understanding young adults. Christianity Today published an article discussing the ministry of Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City. Most of the article is geared toward Keller’s ministry and his bio. The whole article is great, but the article begins with:

His church, Redeemer Presbyterian, has five crowded Sunday services in three rented locations—Keller dashes between them—with an average total attendance of 5,000. The service at Hunter is the largest, the “tourist service.” (For many years, Redeemer deliberately avoided publicity, but word has spread lately, and Keller estimates that hundreds of out-of-towners show up each Sunday.) Well over 2,000 people—mainly young whites and Asians you would expect to be sleeping off a late Saturday night—have come to this morning’s service.

Wow, “young people” in church… on Sunday morning no less. What is due to this great success? It has got to be a young hip preacher and cool band leading worship. Nope.

Redeemer’s worship is seemly traditional. Instead of using video monitors, casually dressed worshipers follow a 20-page bulletin that includes hymns, prayers, and Bible texts. Organ and a brass quartet lead the music. For evening services, jazz musicians play contemporary Christian songs.

Standing 6’4″, with a bald head, glasses, and a coat and tie, Keller, 58, does not look hip. Nor is his sermon funny, charming, or daring. He preaches from the first chapter of Genesis, on the doctrine of Creation. Keller speaks like a college professor, absorbed in his content, of which there is a lot

worship

Church Warehouse Part 2: Theology of Wood and Concrete

I wanted to follow up on my last post about worship and ministry space with another article from Christianity Today, entitled “Theology in Wood and Concrete.” The article is about 6 churches and their brief stories about building their ministry space:

If churches then had seen what they had in common with modernism, they could have allied their sense of responsibility with cutting-edge design. Instead, churches, which were the architectural focal points of early American settlements, left the conversation of progressive architecture. But in the past few years, missions-minded Protestant churches have begun to rediscover architecture.

The following churches decided that their buildings were an important part of their ministry, not merely afterthoughts. And while many churches are moving toward traditional design, these churches believe there is still something to be said for a contemporary approach. They believe that buildings can express the values of congregations, bringing new meaning to the act of stewardship in architecture.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/may/35.33.html

worship

Does My Church Look Like a Warehouse?

For the last 20 or 25 years, it has become popular a church to build their worship and ministry space to look like a warehouse or storehouse (or use an actual warehouse). After being a part of three capital improvement projects at three different churches, I have found there is a whole theology to church buildings.

The “Emergent” or “Emerging Church” and ultra contemporary church movement has found that many people are attracted to buildings that do not include religious symbols. And, church buildings should be more utilitarian than religious. Most of the time, building a church in a warehouse is an economical way to do church. Aside from the “store front” church, churches who desire to tone down a worship space do so for marketing reasons. Mega and ultra contemporary churches try to draw in burned out Christians or seekers (the unchurched) who want church to be different than the traditional church service (3 hymns, sermon, and altar call).

Christianity Today wrote an intriguing article about how there is now a reverse trend in trying to attract seekers to churches. The trend seems to be that now seekers and churches are reconsidering what they thought they wanted in a church building. The article cites a survey which states that seekers prefer a church to look like, well… a church. The article reads:

….unchurched adults prefer Gothic church buildings to utilitarian ones, challenging the conventional wisdom that medieval-looking churches feel out-of-touch and stuffy to seekers. LifeWay showed over 1,600 unchurched adults four pictures of church buildings, ranging from mall-like to Gothic. The majority preferred the most ornate church.

Not exactly scientific, but this survey shows that deep down inside, a church’s building says a lot about how the church sees itself regarding theology, evangelism, and Christ. This study came out of LifeWay, the publishing and ministry arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

It is my firm belief that people want to seek the Divine in church community and in worship. Based on anecdotal evidence, I have found that there is a segment of the church going population, who after several years at a ultra contemporary/mega church, desire to recapture the essence of what it means to worship, learn, live in faith, and fellowship in a congregation that seeks to be more dynamic and deeper in their approach. Over the years, I have been a big fan of Robert Webber, who died recently. Webber who began life as a Baptist and then switched denominations to become an Episcopalian, rediscovered liturgical worship with a contemporary twist. In his book, Ancient-Future Faith he states:

Worship Renewal, then, is not a matter of gimmicks, but the recovery of the Christian vision of reality enacted by the community of God. pg. 32

Then, Webber goes on to say:

In the 1980’s evangelicals sought to neutralize space to make the seeker more comfortable. This worked in the 1980’s but is not the way to go in the postmodern world. The inquirer needs to be immersed within a space that bespeaks the Christian faith. The very narrative of faith which we seek to know and live is symbolically expressed in our space… Space becomes the visual image of the connection between the known and unknown. pg. 108

For Webber, and I agree, worship and our church buildings communicate who God is. Symbols are important. Symbols point to a great reality. The cross is a symbol. The communion table is a symbol. The church is a symbol. If we neutralize a church space, then are we neutralizing the symbol of the church? Postmodernity has indeed reshaped our understanding. Webber addresses the church within postmodernity:

In a postmodern world that has become increasingly interested in communication and space, it will be necessary to feature the relational seating of God people around the symbols of water, the pulpit, and the Table. These are the primary visual images of God’s work in the history of salvation. pg. 108

I have a number of engaged couples who come from other churches looking for a church to get married in because their church does not “look” like a church. They do not worship in a traditional looking church, but they want to get married in one. That just shows how our culture is evolving and how Christians view worship space.

Churches and pastors should resist the empty showy gimmicks and trendy ideas about church and worship. Instead, we must seek to put a theology behind our church and church buildings instead of only relying on marketing tactics. There is a richness contained in the 2,000 years of worship, teaching, and theology that the church mothers and fathers have given to us. There is nothing “wrong” with a contemporary church that meets in a warehouse, but the trend of the lack of Christian symbols and lack of focus upon theologically centered worship space is troubling. When churches are able, they should think about building or obtaining a worship space that reflects Christian theology. I should make it clear that many people have come to Christ in these trendy churches and these churches are meeting a need. But, at some point, people are going to want more than flashy lights, loud bands, and Starbucks.

What do you think?

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